Show an ad over header. AMP

I am the FIRST!!!

Republicans' Supreme Court message: Don't worry about the ACA

Health care was by far the dominant issue in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing yesterday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

The big picture: After promising for 10 years to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, and with a lawsuit pending at the Supreme Court that could do exactly that, Republicans are making a new argument: c’mon, nobody’s getting rid of the Affordable Care Act.


  • “I’m not here on a mission to destroy the Affordable Care Act,” Barrett said yesterday.
  • She has criticized the Supreme Court’s previous decisions upholding the ACA, but was quick to emphasize the difference between those cases and the one she might hear. She refused to entertain hypotheticals about how she might rule.

Between the lines: The ACA is on the chopping block yet again at the Supreme Court.

  • But with Barrett on an apparent fast track to confirmation, Democrats’ litany of personal stories — especially when they were coming from vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris — sounded like more of a 2020 campaign message than a legal argument.
  • So did Republicans’ sudden insistence that their party’s efforts to kill the ACA are not going to succeed.

What they're saying: Sen. Mike Crapo brought up a moot-court exercise in which Barrett “ruled” that the ACA’s individual mandate was unconstitutional, but let the rest of the law stand.

  • “I think that's kind of an answer, frankly, to a lot of those who are raising this specter that you're going to take the whole Affordable Care Act away from everyone because of this very narrow case,” he said, despite Barrett’s repeated reminders not to read a real legal position into that practice exercise.
  • The court's original case over the ACA's individual mandate “has nothing to do” with the case now before the court, Sen. Mike Lee said during his questioning.
  • "Nobody believes the Supreme Court is going to strike down the Affordable Care Act,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said during a debate Monday night in Kentucky.

Reality check: Republican attorneys general and the Trump administration are asking the Supreme Court to strike down the entire law, and will make that case in oral arguments on Nov. 10.

  • As Barrett explained several times, the issue in this case is whether the individual mandate has become unconstitutional, and then, if so, how much of the rest of the law is “severable” from the mandate.
  • The court may well rule, as congressional Republicans seem confident, that the mandate can fall on its own. (They could also uphold the mandate again, though that seems unlikely.)

But any time the Justice Department takes a position before the Supreme Court, that position is worth taking seriously. And in this case the Justice Department is telling the court to strike down the whole law, including its protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

What’s next: Republicans have never released a plan to replace the ACA’s consumer protections, should they finally kill it, whether they still want to or not.

regular 4 post ff

infinite scroll 4 pff

Outdoor lovers beware: Ticks and poison ivy are on the rise

Americans looking to enjoy their summer outside after a pandemic year now have other threats to worry about.

The big picture: Experts are warning that ticks are on the rise and poison ivy may be more abundant this year. That means hikers, campers and anyone else excited to get outside after months of pandemic confinement should take extra precautions to avoid both.

Keep reading...Show less

Politics came from the pulpit in 2020

Reproduced from Pew Research Center; Chart: Axios visuals

Two-thirds of American churches delivered overtly political sermons or messages in the run-up to the 2020 election, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of online sermons.

Why it matters: Many clergy felt compelled to address the controversies dividing the country — and possibly their own congregations — at a time of turmoil.

Keep reading...Show less

Biden administration reshapes major climate report, appoints new director

The Biden administration has appointed a new head of the National Climate Assessment (NCA), a pivotal, congressionally mandated report on how human-caused global warming is affecting the U.S.

Driving the news: The next NCA will be overseen by Allison Crimmins, an environmental scientist who has spent a decade at the EPA and has expertise in scientific communication.

Keep reading...Show less

Insights

mail-copy

Get Goodhumans in your inbox

Most Read

More Stories
<!ENTITY lol2 “&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;“> <!ENTITY lol3 “&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;“> <!ENTITY lol4 “&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;“> ]> &lol4;